Kansas is the 34th State!

I do love to give gifts, but I feel like there has to be a reason or else I just purchase all the time. I always find things that remind me of other people when I am out shopping and I grab them up and try to keep them for birthdays and Christmas, but it drives me nuts. When I have gifts at my house I am forced to call almost daily and make people guess what their gifts are (after I have given a slew of misleading hints). So much fun! But sometimes it is hard to give the gifts after they have been in my home for awhile because I get attached and I know I will miss them.

I have already bought my sister, Katie, a couple of birthday presents but that doesn’t roll around til June 5th. I can’t wait that long. After a mad search on Google for any forgotten holidays that fall on Jan. 29th this is what I have:

• The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced
• Kansas becomes the 34th state
• Something about Bologna, Italy (this offered no inspiration, just made me hungry)

No more! I have a new plan!

I am declaring today a holiday for the lack of better reason to give gifts. Soooo, today (for myself…I will not be forcing my own personal holidays on others) is dedicated to my sister and is called “Congratulations You Are Almost About to Have Your Second Baby and I Hope It’s a Girl That You Name After Me” day! Only kidding about that naming it after me part…or am I? On to the presents!

TA DA!!!!

Okay – bad joke on Katie! This owl is way too hideous for your house. I will just keep it. Hanging on my hallway wall. Backwards. With tacky fake flowers shoved in it.


First…




Second…







Finally…







Hope you love them!


And here is a picture of Winks (my one-eyed kitty) just because I know my momma misses seeing her.

Another Snow Day

We can rationalize anything. Derrick and I are starting to worry about losing power since so many of our friends have been without it for about 36 hours. We have decided that as a precaution, we might need to pack on as much blubber as possible to keep ourselves warm in case we lose our heat. Starting immediately we are eating all fried foods. Soooo, last night I fried chicken for dinner with the usual sides and buttery biscuits. For Charlie…it was torture.

And if nobody is going to stop him...

Well worth the spanking that followed...

The weather has kept us indoors for another day and we are all starting to get a little cabin fever…especially the animals.

Somehow all three of our babies made a break for it today and escaped out of the fenced in back yard. Our girls, Annie and Maggie, always come back when called but Charlie is another story. He had to be lured in by a box of cookies.

When the girls had their fill of the snow they concerned themselves with a new scent coming from my plant shed where I keep my flower pots. Derrick had told me last night he thought some birds were in there trying to keep warm. The last thing I wanted to see this morning was a bird get eaten by my playful four-leggers so I rushed them in the house and checked out the shed. Look what I found!

He was so scared! You know I had to feed him so I grabbed some peanut butter crackers and he has already eaten one and is working on the second. Derrick is not pleased that I am feeding him and says we can’t keep him. As if I would bring a squirrel in the house. He is just going to be my side-porch squirrel. I am making him a bed tonight.



While I am stuck in the house I figure I might as well get some cleaning done…

Maybe find a home for some recent finds…

And figure out how exactly to fit my entire pork loin in the fry daddy…

Winter Wonderland

We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning! We knew that we were going to get some bad weather but we didn’t actually think we would have a sheet of ice on everything. It is really beautiful, but I know our yard will be a wreck when it all melts. Most of our trees have already lost branches and some have split right down the middle. Right now we have electricity but our cell phone tower is down. Luckily I made it to the grocery last night and was able to pick up the last gallon of skim milk Kroger had to offer. For some odd reason I also felt like we needed five bags of potato chips, six boxes of crackers, four packages of cookies and six cans of tuna. Obviously we shoved the tuna to back of the pantry where it will only be eaten after the last of the junk food has been wolfed down. Now we are posted up and just waiting for it to melt!

The view driving into our neighborhood...

Our cherry trees which have taken a beating...

Our holly bushes...

Our front yard...

My sad little bird feeder...

And a close up of the ice...

I do...

Derrick and I got married on October 4, 2007 in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We had always talked about getting married on the beach but there aren’t too many of those in the great state of Kentucky. We ended up choosing Jamaica for our destination and since it isn’t too close to Kentucky, we decided on just the two of us going and coming home and having a small cookout with a few close friends. Anyway, here are a couple of our favorite pics of our favorite day…

This next picture is not one of my personal favorites, but it is Derrick's top choice. Being the basketball coach that he is, he made me come straight home after the honeymoon and work on my left handed lay ups. He thinks I have potential.

Also, my sister, Katie, just loves to throw a party…for anything. She masterminded a reception for my family and church at my parents’ house. She is the only person I know that can pull off planning a party in Eastern Kentucky when she lives almost 500 miles away in Atlanta, GA. We had a great time and really appreciated all of her hard work and we loved getting to spend time with the people that we are unable to see as often as we would like.

Katie and her husband, Mike, also were responsible for taking all the pictures. Thanks to them we have several of what they refer to as "action pics". Luckily they were there to make sure we got a photo of who actually polished off the sausage balls. I have happily omitted the following "action pic" of myself picking the sausage balls out of my teeth.

And wouldn't you know that the University of Kentucky did not bother to let Katie know that they would actually be playing a game during my reception. Our die-hard UK fans of the family would never dream of sitting inside and watching the game (mainly because the women in my family forbid them) so what are you gonna do? Maybe drag a TV outside, grab an extension cord and find the longest tree trimming utensil you have and tape it to the TV? Sounds good. Notice the gentleman standing in the back wearing the light blue button up...that would be my husband.

New Year's Resolutions

1. Spend more time with family
2. Stick to budget
3. Volunteer to help others
4. Organize my house
5. Start a blog

One down...four to go.